Dispensing package of tablets and the like



July 18, 1950 c. NICOLLE 2,515,378

DISPENSING PACKAGE 0F TABLETS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 10, 1946 INVENTO Charles N. OHe

ATTORNEY Patented July 18, 1950 st-PATHS I'DISPENS-ING PACKAGE or TABLETS .x 'v :v'gANDTHELIKE i that; Nicolle, Gentilli'i rance Application January 10, 1946, Serial No. 640,314

This invention relates to containers adapted for the storing and piecemeal dispensing of small articles of uniform size such as pills, tablets or l the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide a container of this type which can be manufactured on a mass production scale from moldable material such as sheets of a plastic and more especially from sheets adapted to yield to pressure of the fingers, and which is provided with an inner guiding and partitioning rib or ribs While still enabling the articles to be gripped between two fingers across the yielding side walls, so that by gripping for instance the third tablet in the channel formed in the container, only the two preceding tablets can drop out.

In the drawing aflixed to this specification and forming part thereof an embodiment of my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by Way of example.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view, while Figure 2 is a cross-section on the line II--II in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I, I are the parallel substantially rectangular main walls of the container, each formed of a thin sheet of a transparent plastic, and 2, 2 are four half side walls surrounding each main wall, said side walls being formed at their free edges with border elements 3 extending substantially in parallel with the main walls and with each other. Each main wall with the side walls and their border elements constitutes one half of the container, which is formed by joining the two halves by their border elements 3. The side walls referred to in the claims appended to this specification are formed, in the example here shown and described, by two halves 2, 2.

An outlet opening 4 is formed in one of the side walls near an adjoining wall and is surrounded by a short neck 5.

A rib 6 extends inwardly from each main wall, the two ribs extending in the same plane in parallel relation with their free edges facing one another. The ribs extend towards the opening in parallel to the side wall extending axially of the opening.

The relative dimensioning of the several parts of the container constitutes a main feature of this invention. In order to ensure a piecemeal dispensing of the pills or other articles stored therein, the top edges of the ribs are spaced from one another by less than the thickness of an article. thereby forcing the articles to travel In lirance February 1,1 94 4 [Section ifr ublic Law 690, August s, 1946 "Patent expires February 1, 196 i a reach the outlet, while allowing the main walls to move towards each other and the articles nearing the outlet to be gripped between two fingers across the yielding main walls. The side walls are only a little higher than the thickness of articles stored in the container, thereby preventing two articles from getting jammed between the main walls. The ribs are spaced from the side wall parallel and nearest to them only a little more than the width of an article, and the outlet opening is only a little wider than that width.

It is obvious that the pair of ribs extending towards each other to narrow the passage at this point between the main walls, might be replaced by a single rib formed in one main Wall and extending its free edge so near to the other main wall as to hinder the passage of an article across the free edge of the rib.

It is equally obvious that in a container of resiliently yielding transparent sheet material the articles to be dispensed may be assisted by the pressure of two fingers in reaching the outlet.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

A dispensing package of articles comprising a pair of opposed flat main wall members formed of yieldable transparent material having facing rims fastened together to form side walls slightly higher than the smallest diameter of said articles, one of said walls having an outlet opening therein, at least one of said main wall members having an inwardly projecting rib formed therein, said rib being spaced from the opposite surface of the other main wall member by a distance slightly less than the smallest diameter of said articles and having one end sufliciently close to one side wall at a point near the outlet opening so that said articles cannot pass between said one rib end and said one side wall, said rib extending in a direction parallel to a second side wall and spaced therefrom by a distance suflicient so that a single row only of said articles ma be received therebetween, said rib having its opposite end spaced from the side wall opposite said one side wall, said rib being effective to separate two chambers in the interior of said package such that articles ma pass from one chamber to the other only between said opposite rib end and said opposite side Wall, the chamber between said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,438,487 Greene Dec. 12, 1922 1,815,319 Lawrence July 21, 1931 Number Number Name Date Hornsey Feb. 2, 1932 Hildebrand Dec. 20, 1932 Schrier July 4, 1939 Priddy June 18, 1940 Renfrew'et; a1 .Feb. 18, 1941 De Witt May 13, 1941 Salfisberg July 20, 1943 Chandler May 9, 1944 Apf'elbaum May 29, 1945 Voke Aug. 21, 1945 Stuart et a1. Jan. 22, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Jan. 14, 1935 France July 10, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Ser. No. 293,601, Nicolle (A. P. 0.), published 20 May 1 1, 1943.

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